Gingerbread Wednesday

I was still in the mood for Christmasy flavors on this Wednesday before New Year's,
so I decided there was no better time to try my Heavenly Delight Gingerbread cupcake.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this one; I like gingerbread cookies, but I'd never had gingerbread cake. The HD version was, well ... OK. The cake itself was a bit dry and lacking the bold gingerbread flavor I was expecting, although the garnish of gingerbread cookie crumbles helped on that front. The frosting tasted like cream cheese, and it was without a doubt the high point of the cupcake, which was good but not among my favorites from HD.

I just couldn't get excited about this one. I'm glad I waited until after Christmas to try it, because, although it was way better than a lump of coal, it didn't make me particularly jolly.

Sugar Cookie Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve, and I've accepted that there's going to be a certain amount of gluttony today and tomorrow.  So I figured why not sample another cupcake from the freezer?

Heavenly Delight's Sugar Cookie was tempting me, so I defrosted that one and dug in.

Moist yellow cake served as a base for HD's vanilla buttercream frosting, with a garnish of festive white glitter and, of course, a sugar cookie wedge -- a soft, fresh-tasting sugar cookie wedge, at that.

This one was simple, but all the elements were on target -- the frosting wasn't overly sweet, and the cake was the perfect texture. All in all, a worthy yuletide treat. I think Santa would love a few of these for his global voyage.

Warm wishes for a merry and blessed Christmas, cupcake lovers!

Midnight indulgence

All the holiday goodies the past couple days at work had me longing for the weekend so I could grab another cupcake out of the freezer.

I was in the mood for chocolate, so I chose Sugar Mama's Chocolate-Covered Strawberry.

Mmmmmmm.

What a great cupcake! It's the first time I've had the combination of strawberry cake and light but creamy chocolate frosting, which worked together to perfectly capture the flavor of a chocolate-covered strawberry -- which topped the cupcake as a garnish. I could see these cupcakes at a wedding reception. Delicious AND elegant. I could have easily gobbled down a couple more!

Cupcake-palooza

I've been juggling cupcakes from three bakers for the past several days, and I have to say I don't mind one bit. My freezer was already holding a half-dozen from Heavenly Delight and Sugar Mama's this morning when I received my spur-of-the-moment three-flavor order from Tracy of TLCuppycakes in Petersburg. She had posted on her Facebook page two nights prior that she would be bringing a delivery of her Holiday Red Velvet, Cranberry Bliss and Snickerdoodle cupcakes into town along with some extras for anyone with a craving.

Since I discovered Tracy's cupcakes a month or so ago, I've become as hooked on her confections as my beloved Heavenly Delight, so I couldn't resist adding to my backlog. In light of the sheer number of cupcakes and the other sweets and holiday foods lurking around the office, I decided to up my usual indulgence by eating two full cupcakes and just part of two others. (Sugar Mama's peanut butter cupcake was calling my name from the freezer, so I plucked it out and brought it to work with me. Thankfully, SM's cakes are a bit smaller than some of the others bakers', so I didn't feel quite so bad about eating it in whole.)

OK, the whole truth? I ate way too much cake today, and to be honest I have a bellyache as I type this. But there's always tomorrow to hop back on the bandwagon of health.

But back to the cupcakes. I started my carb-fabulous day with that peanut butter goodie from Sugar Mama's, and it was quite a satisfying lead-in to the Wednesday sugar rush. The chocolate cake was pleasantly moist with some chunkiness that I think was either chocolate chunks or Reese's Peanut Butter Cup chunks baked in. The frosting, which was topped with a small peanut butter cup wedge, was unlike other peanut butter frostings I've tried in that it was stronger on the salty peanut butter flavor. There definitely wasn't as much sugar as in the others. I didn't mind it, though; not every frosting needs to be loaded with sugar, and I liked how the boldness and authenticity of the peanut butter's flavor came through. It struck just the right balance with the sweetness of the cake and the candy wedge on top. 

Next up was the much-anticipated TLCuppycakes Holiday Red Velvet. After my recent bad experience with a bone-dry Cafe Moxo red velvet, I was ready for something a little more promising. Based on my previous TLCuppycakes cakes, I had every reason to believe this red velvet would be the real deal. 

Presentation-wise, the cupcake was an eye-catcher: deep-red cake, fluffy tower of frosting and a dusting of white-chocolate shavings reminiscent of snowflakes. Biting into it, I knew I had found a red velvet to remember. Moist cake. Light, creamy cream cheese frosting. A touch of smooth, light vanilla cream in the center -- a delightful surprise. This was red velvet fit for royalty. I've tried quite a few red velvets from various bakeries during my cupcake journey, and this one ranks at the top.

By the time I got home from work, I was ready for a bite or two from the remaining TLCuppycakes varieties -- Cranberry Bliss and Snickerdoodle. 

Cranberry is a flavor I'd normally pass over in most foods or beverages, simply because the tart flavor is a bit strong for my palate. I'm glad I gave TL's Cranberry Bliss a chance, though. The orange-cranberry cake surrounded a light cranberry filling and was topped with white-chocolate buttercream and a garnish of toasted almonds. Despite cranberry not being my first choice, I enjoyed the flavor combination and the sheer quality of the cupcake as a whole. My observation, based on the TL cakes I've tried so far, is that the quality will be dependable even if not every cupcake variety is my taste per se. 

I'm a sucker for cinnamon, so I was pretty sure I'd be a fan of TL's Snickerdoodle. Sure enough, this was the cupcake I wish I'd gotten when I ordered the Cinnamon Sugar cupcake at Sprinkles Cupcakes on the Chicago cupcake crawl this past July. That cupcake, from a cupcake chain that originated in Los Angeles and has since opened shops on the East Coast as well as in Chi-town, was merely a cinnamon poundcake --  no frosting and not even a light glaze, which at the time I felt would have elevated the Cinnamon Sugar to greatness. TL's Snickerdoodle, with it's cinnamon-vanilla cake, light cinnamon filling, cinnamon-vanilla buttercream frosting and dusting of cinnamon sugar, had all the elements missing from that Sprinkles cupcake. The founder of Sprinkles is a judge on The Food Channel's "Cupcake Wars," and she could take a lesson from TLCuppycakes on this particular cupcake.

Heck, what's a little stomachache when it comes from a day of phenomenal cupcakes? 

Two-cupcake Saturday

I was ready for some sugar by the time I finished a challenging Saturday morning workout, and I got it in spades -- a friend at the gym introduced me to some cupcakes by a friend of hers, with a baking business known as Sugar Mama's Cupcakes. Lauren and Sugar Mama's treated me to four flavors -- Lime Margarita, Cherry Limeade, Peanut Butter and Chocolate-Covered Strawberry. Lauren had raved about the Lime Margarita, so I decided to try that one first.

What a great cupcake! The lime cake was moist and flavorful, and the frosting was creamy with a subtle hint of lime. The cherry on top was a delightful touch. I agreed with Lauren's description -- that it was like eating a margarita.

In addition to the Sugar Mama's cupcakes, I picked up four cupcakes I had ordered from Heavenly Delight at the holiday farmers market on the state fairgrounds. The Christmasy HD lineup included Sugar Cookie, Gingerbread, Hot Chocolate and Pistachio. I love pistachios, so I was excited to make that one my first sample from the HD bunch.

The pistachio, with its pistachio cake and vanilla frosting, was tasty, but I thought the frosting was a tad too sweet -- sweeter than it's been on other HD cupcakes. It didn't quite live up to my expectations, but it was still good to taste some HD again and to have three more new HD creations to try on upcoming cupcake days.

Between those and the rest of the Sugar Mama's confections, the freezer is awesomely stocked.

Anything but velvet

Today was the day for eating excess at work, with our office potluck falling on the same day I stopped at Cafe Moxo for my weekly cupcake (it's worth noting that today is National Cupcake Day). Somehow, I  managed to find room in my stomach for a ridiculous amount of food.

But on to the matter at hand -- Cafe Moxo's Red Velvet cupcake.

Simply stated, the cake was horribly dry, possibly the worst of all the Moxo cupcakes I’ve tried so far. Terribly disappointing. Not even Moxo’s luscious cream cheese frosting could save this one. For one thing, there was much less frosting than on a typical Moxo cupcake -- not nearly enough to smother the heavy, almost crusty cake. How dry was that Moxo cupcake, REALLY? you may ask. Well, it was so dry that, an hour after eating it, the crumbs RATTLED inside the styrofoam bowl to which I had transferred it for sampling. I mean, we're talking little red velvet pebbles. It was so dry that it was more like cornbread than a cupcake. It was more desert than dessert.

OK, you get the point.

If this had been my first experience with a Moxo cupcake, I'm fairly certain that I would not return for a second. However, I have three reasons for continuing my quest of trying Moxo's whole menu: 1. The awesome frosting; 2. I finish what I start; and 3. I've had good cupcakes at Moxo.

Nevertheless, I may take a break from Moxo for a week or two. The holiday farmers market runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Artisans Building on the state fairgrounds, and Heavenly Delight is going to have a booth there. Just to be sure I'll be able to get the cupcakes I want, I called ahead this week and reserved four of the seasonal flavors that will be available: Gingerbread, Hot Chocolate, Sugar Cookie and Pistachio. Knowing I can freeze HD cupcakes, I'm looking forward to being able to savor them for a week or two, and maybe for a couple Cupcake Wednesdays -- if I can leave them alone that long! 

From a sandwich to a cupcake: The PB&J

I never ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when I was a kid -- I just never liked the combination of flavors. I love peanut butter and jelly separately, but in this case, opposites don't attract for me.

Thus, I felt some trepidation about trying Cafe Moxo's PB&J cupcake. I knew I'd love the peanut butter frosting because I tried it several years ago on Moxo's peanut butter cupcake with chocolate cake. I just wasn't sure how I'd feel about the raspberry jelly filling in the white cake or the jelly garnish on the frosting.

Well, let's just say I lived through the tasting experience. I tried the cake by itself first to get a sense of texture -- dry or moist? -- since Moxo has a tendency toward dry cake. The white cake was pretty dry -- no suprise there. It wasn't terrible, but the entire cupcake would have been so much better with a moister cake.

Next, I boldly took a bite of all three elements together -- cake, filling and frosting. My first taste of jelly and peanut butter together wasn't as traumatic as I expected. It actually wasn't so bad. Even so, I don't think I would seek out this cupcake again. Moxo's peanut butter frosting is so good that I'd rather enjoy it uncomplicated by another type of bold flavor. (Although I have to give credit where it's due -- the jelly was quite tasty on its own and did its part to boost the dry cake.) Once I'd taken the plunge and tried the peanut butter and jelly together, I toppled the cupcake and finished it from the bottom, cake and filling together, then frosting. (There wasn't a significant portion of jelly garnishing the frosting, so I was, for the most part, able to enjoy the frosting on its own merits.)

I think I've grown from this experience trying a flavor combination I've always avoided. Well, I've grown as a cupcake reviewer, anyway. I won't be eating any peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.